Well, it is that day of the year again. The day that children, and many adults, dress up as everything from Justin Bieber to fairy godmothers. Police officers to Mount. St. Helens. Princesses, knights, wizards, witches, chicki magnets, the doplar effect. It's all been done. It's the night that kids are actually encouraged to run in the streets and take candy from strangers. For many kids, this is the best night of the year. Late Night, cool costume and lots of candy. What could be better?
While the holiday is celebrated by many, there are many people (especially Christians), who find Halloween sinful and evil. They may give out candy (or possibly scripture passges and tracts), but they likely will just sit at home, with the lights turned out, praying for the lost souls who are selling their souls to the devil walking around dressed up as demons and taking candy. Why is it that there is such an issue with this particular holiday? You don't see people boycotting Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, New Years, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day or Labour Day (Jehvah Witnesses excluded of course...of course even they just go about it in silence). I figured that I would do a quick history lesson here...what is the origins of Halloween? Why is it the holiday that it has become? Why October 31? And more importantly, why do many Christians find it evil and scary? Let's find out shall we...
According to Wikipedia (it's always truthful and accurate right?), Halloween is sort of a spin off from the Celtic holiday of Samhain (meaning "summer's end"), which is a celebration of the end of the "lighter half of the year" and the beginning of the "darker half". It was believed that on this day, the Otherworld was opened up and spirits (both good and bad), could pass through. The wearing of costumes is believed to come from people dressing up as bad spirits in order to avoid harm.
Jack-O-Lanterns were initially created to commemorate the souls in purgatory, as well as warding off evil spirits. Trick or Treating originated from the practice of souling, when poor people would go door to door asking for food in return for prayers.
This is a very quick, overview of the history of Halloween...please, feel free to comment and fix any errors, or add any vital information that I am lacking. Anyway, now to the questions. How should Christians respond? Personally, I see no harm in participating in Halloween. I think it can be a harmless holiday, filled with fun and games. Yes, there are some creepy costumes, and lots of mischief...but overall, it's a fairly harmless holiday. In fact, for many people it is the only day of the year (other than Christmas, with carolling), that they get to meet their neighbours in a non threatening way. Friendships can be built, relationships formed. Now, I don't think we should go around casting spells on people, or performing exorcisms (leave that to the priests), but in reality...the holiday, while rooted in the spiritual, has evolved into just a night of fun and candy. Things change over time. Word meanings change, things that once meant one thing, mean something different now. For example, the word gay once meant happy...today it is a word describing a homosexual. Bitch once was a harmless word meaning "female dog"...now it means...well, you get the idea. Halloween has evolved too. It is no longer just a day to ward of spirits...in fact, most people don't even know the origins anymore. The day has brought together many different celebrations and days (All Saints Day, All-Hallows Eve, Samhain), and created a new holiday.
So should we embrace it? Perhaps. I'm not here to tell people how they should respond to something. The Bible does say that if something causes someone else to stumble, then it should be avoided around that person. If you are intimidated by Halloween, or it makes you uncomfortable, by all means don't celebrate the holiday. But do it in silence. If you love Halloween, don't force others to love it with you. People have choice. Just like religion, yes we are called to make disciples, but a disciple CHOOSES to follow, it is not forced to follow. Make up your own mind about Halloween, love it or hate it, just don't judge others for their view.
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